Casa Pampa opens many doors to experience Santa Teresa

Casa Pampa opens many doors for you to experience Santa Teresa and generally Costa Rica more than "just the average" tourist. By offering and giving your time and your individual Know-how, Casa Pampa will in return give you a true connection with the culture and community of Santa Teresa. On one hand, you can learn a lot about the local flora and fauna, composting, Permaculture, and gardening in general, and at the same time you can bring in your own expertise in whatever you like.

You can take part in Beach-CleanUps, plant some vegetables in the Community Garden behind the local public school or do some sort of cultural exchange like a Language-Tandem when asking for it.

Important to understand that Casa Pampa doesn't offer accommodation for volunteering at the moment (2021). However, it is a perfect place to take initiative and connect to a community on a daily basis.

Gracias, Casa Pampa. Nos vemos. Cheers, Davide

Casa Pampa abre muchas puertas para experimentar Santa Teresa y, en general, Costa Rica más que el turista "promedio". Al ofrecer y dar tu tiempo y su conocimiento individual, Casa Pampa le dará a cambio una verdadera conexión con la cultura y la comunidad de Santa Teresa. Por un lado, puede aprender mucho sobre la flora y fauna local, el compostaje, la permacultura y la jardinería en general, y al mismo tiempo puede aportar su propia experiencia en lo que quiera.

Puede participar en Beach-CleanUps , plantar algunas verduras en el jardín comunitario detrás de la escuela pública local o hacer algún tipo de intercambio cultural como un Language-Tandem, cuando lo solicite.

Es importante entender que Casa Pampa no ofrece alojamiento para voluntariado en este momento (2021). Sin embargo, es un lugar perfecto para tomar la iniciativa y conectarse con una comunidad a diario.

Gracias, Casa Pampa. Nos vemos. Saludos, Davide

Ver como crece =)

Mi nombre es Belén, soy argentina y hace poco participé del Voluntariado en la huerta de santa teresa. Para mí fue una experiencia super enriquecedora, darme cuenta del poder que tiene poner las manos en la tierra y conectar con ello. Ver como crece, a medida que trabajas, encontrar alguna semilla brotando, y todo a tu alrededor huele a una hierba sana que crece, te hace proyectar el qué podrías hacer cuando coseches eso que ahora mismo está en la tierra.

También, compartir con otras personas que te enseñan a través de sus conocimientos ese valor que hoy en día, más que nunca, nos enseña lo bueno que es volver a nuestras raíces, y así el día de mañana poder hacerlo por y para nosotros mismos.

Belen, Argentina

My name is Belén, I am from Argentina and I recently participated in Volunteering in Huerta de Santa Teresa. For me it was a super enriching experience, realizing the power of putting your hands on the ground and connecting with it. Seeing how it grows, as you work, find a seed sprouting, and everything around you smells of a healthy grass that grows, makes you project what you could do when you harvest that which is in the ground right now. Also, share with other people who teach you through their knowledge that value that today, more than ever, teaches us how good it is to return to our roots, and thus tomorrow to be able to do it by and for ourselves.

Belen, Argentina

My dream was to live among a community that believes in "giving is receiving“

Hola People 

We ( me and my wife 54,51)came to live in Santa Teresa Costa Rica, a year and 3 months ago.

I chose to live in Costa Rica because I think it’s now the greenest country on this planet.

98.2 % of electricity is made by renewable sources 

They ban the use of single plastic use at the beach, they close all the zoo, they keep strict building rules against building on the beach, they make a big effort to recycle and the list goes on.

My choosing Santa Teresa was because of 365 days of surfing, in warm clean water, on the most beautiful beaches one can imagine.

Very soon after arriving, we found a strong community that act through Facebook pages such as “ Santa Teresa community “ y “What’s on Santa Teresa” 

On these pages, one can consult with others about all kinds of things, like a daily basis episode of life, like having a big snake in your garden, a hurt animal, or asking for an electrician, welder, or computer technician.

My dream was to live among a community that believes in "giving is receiving“. And here I found many people who live according to this.

I met Casa Pampa when I looked for a place to make a recycle center. They are a walking encyclopedia for Permaculture and all aspects of living in harmony with nature.

Santa Teresa Community Garden is a great project for the local school, like composting, and growing a variety of herbs, fruit, and vegetables, while teaching the kids about the subjects.

I went one morning to harvest the turmeric from the garden. It was a fun morning, meeting with great people, talking about life, and putting our hands on the ground digging for turmeric.

I hope a lot of people will continue to volunteer for Casa Pampa projects.

Yoav from Israel

Hola Gente

Nosotros (mi esposa y yo 54,51) vinimos a vivir a Santa Teresa Costa Rica, hace un año y 3 meses.

Elegí vivir en Costa Rica porque creo que ahora es el país más verde de este planeta.

El 98,2% de la electricidad procede de fuentes renovables, prohíben el uso de plástico de un solo uso en la playa, cierran todo el zoológico, mantienen estrictas reglas de construcción contra la construcción en la playa. Hacen un gran esfuerzo por reciclar y la lista continúa.

Mi elección de Santa Teresa fue por 365 días de surf, en agua tibia y limpia, en las playas más hermosas que uno pueda imaginar.

Al poco tiempo de llegar, encontramos una comunidad fuerte que actúa a través de páginas como “comunidad de Santa Teresa” y "¿Qué hay en Santa" en Facebook.

En estas páginas se puede consultar con otros sobre todo tipo de cosas, como un episodio cotidiano de la vida, como tener una serpiente grande en su jardín, un animal herido o pedir un electricista, soldador o técnico en computación.

Mi sueño era vivir en una comunidad que cree en “dar para recibir” y aquí encontré mucha gente que vive de acuerdo a esto.

Conocí a Casa Pampa cuando buscaba un lugar para hacer un centro de reciclaje.

Son una enciclopedia andante para la Permacultura y todos los aspectos de vivir en armonía con la naturaleza.

El Jardín Comunitario de Santa Teresa es un gran proyecto para la escuela local, como hacer abono y cultivar una variedad de hierbas, frutas y verduras, mientras se enseña a los niños sobre los temas.

Una mañana fui a cosechar la Cúrcuma del jardín. Fue una mañana divertida, conocer gente estupenda, hablar sobre la vida y poner las manos en el suelo para buscar cúrcuma.

Espero que mucha gente continúe siendo voluntaria en los proyectos de Casa Pampa.

Yoav de Israel

Doors to Permaculture

Life allowed me to get to know the town of Santa Teresa more intimately and in my search to build my personal garden, the contact from Casa Pampa came to me.

This organization is in charge of the community garden of the public school in the area where it allows children who attend class to have a connection with nature through experience.

Casa Pampa also receives volunteers from different parts of the world, so that those who come to visit the town can get their hands on the ground and take the experience personally.

In the last four weeks I have learned how to prepare good soil for planting, care, permanent and seasonal characteristics, composting techniques, and much more; We have also visited the different orchards in the area and that allowed us to see the different techniques that are carried out.

This beautiful experience opened the doors to the world of Permaculture where the companies have merged perfectly between a rich mate, wisdom, and hands in our mother earth; I am very fortunate to be able to share a little of the good times that have lived here and I hope you can live your own experience. 

Greetings 

Laura from Argentina.

Las puertas de la Permacultura

La vida me permitió conocer más íntimamente el pueblo de Santa Teresa y en la búsqueda de armar mi huerta personal me llega el contacto de Casa Pampa.

Esta organización está a cargo de la huerta comunitaria del colegio público de la zona donde permite que los niños que asisten a clase, tengan al alcance la conexión con la naturaleza a través de la experiencia.

Casa Pampa también recibe voluntarios de distintas partes del mundo, para que los que vengan a visitar el pueblo puedan meter manos en la tierra y llevarse la experiencia personalmente,.

Las últimas cuatro semanas he aprendido cómo preparar un buen suelo para sembrar, los cuidados, las características permanentes y estacionales, técnicas de compostaje y mucho más; Además hemos visitado las distintas huertas de la zona y eso permitió ver las diferentes técnicas que se llevan a cabo. 

Esta linda experiencia me abrió las puertas al mundo de la Permacultura donde los compartires se han fusionado perfectamente entre un rico mate, sabiduría y manos en nuestra madre tierra; Soy muy afortunada de poder compartir un poquito de los buenos momentos que se viven por aquí y espero que puedan vivir su experiencia propia. 

Saludos, Laura de Argentina.

Permaculture from Patagonia to the Costa Rica tropics

I must admit that I was surprised by my experience working at Casa Pampa since I study agronomy, I did not expect to learn how I managed to do it working with this organization. Being able to use all the resources and waste that one has and generates is not easy, however, it is possible and at Casa Pampa, they do it and work very well. I could also see the operation of Flor Blanca, a hotel that is also aware of its waste and does an excellent job, using the naturally filtered water from the showers and kitchens to water the gardens.

 The work I did in Santa Teresa was very flexible allowing him to travel, surf and get to know, but the minute we worked we did it and we also learned how to do permaculture, for example.

Flor Blanca Green house

 Sustainable agriculture is becoming more and more and what better than to learn from where they do it efficiently, is very useful for me in my professional future. On the other hand, I was able to meet and work with tropical species, which need other care for plants in Mediterranean places such as Chile.

 The generation of soil that they make at Casa Pampa was one of the things that most impressed me since tropical soils are generally not very deep, but with the help of composting that we carried out plus proper care, you could see how the soil changed colored in the areas already treated and therefore had greater depth, being a more fertile soil.

 I just have to thank this beautiful organization that taught me a lot and gave me great joy during my two weeks in Santa Teresa, I hope to return one day and see the progress they have made.

Felipe from Santiago de Chile

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Debo admitir que me sorprendió mi experiencia trabajando en Casa Pampa, siendo que estudio agronomía, no me esperaba aprender cómo lo logré hacer trabajando con esta organización. Poder utilizar todos los recursos y residuos que uno tiene y genera no es fácil, sin embargo es posible y en Casa Pampa lo hacen y funcionan de lo más bien. Pude también ver el funcionamiento de Flor Blanca, un hotel que también son conscientes de sus residuos y lleva a cabo un excelente trabajo, utilizando las aguas filtradas naturalmente de las duchas y cocinas para regar los jardines.

 El trabajo que realizaba yo en Santa Teresa era muy flexible permitiéndole recorrer, surfear y conocer, pero en el minuto de trabajar lo hacíamos y además aprendimos como por ejemplo a hacer permacultura.

La agricultura sustentable cada vez se está realizando más y qué mejor que aprender de donde lo realizan de forma eficiente, siendo muy útil para mi en mi futuro profesional. Por otro lado pude conocer y trabajar con especies tropicales, las cuales necesitan otros cuidados a las plantas de lugares mediterráneos como es en Chile. 

La generación de suelo que hacen en Casa Pampa fue una de las cosas que más me impresionó ya que por lo general los suelos tropicales no son muy profundos, pero con la ayuda del compostaje que realizamos más el cuidado adecuado se podía ver cómo el suelo cambiaba de color en las zonas ya tratadas y por lo tanto tenía mayor profundidad, siendo un suelo más fértil.

 Nada más me queda darle las gracias a esta bella organización que me enseñó muchísimo y me dio mucha alegría durante mis dos semanas en Santa Teresa, espero volver algún día y ver el progreso que han tenido

Felipe de Santiago de Chile

Permaculture, Sustainability and Pura Vida!

Costa Rica is known as a role model in nature conservation and for its rich biodiversity. For me a reason why I choose it as my destination for my 2,5 months travel. Through my professional background in environmental management and sustainability I’m interested in organizations which work in the field of sustainability, environmental conservation and creating awareness I wanted to help and exchange my knowledge and learn more about sustainability in Costa Rica.

During my stay in Santa Teresa I was happy to find Casa Pampa with its Permaculture Learning Lab for sustainability and environmental awareness. Casa Pampa is dedicated to spread environmental awareness, through volunteering programs, workshops and events around permaculture, composting and general environmental topics. 

Within my time there, I learned a lot about gardening in the tropical area and the principles of permaculture and composting. Daily activities included all kind of work which arise in a garden as watering, planting, covering the beds and so on. Beside that there is always time to have wonderful conversations about all the important world topics.

I enjoyed my weeks in that beautiful community garden with the choir of tropical birds and the monkey family which is living there a lot. For me it was a great enrichment working with nature having all these conversations learning and exchanging about diverse topics with like-minded people.

I can everyone recommend being part and contribute in the Casa Pampa Volunteer Program. It doesn’t matter if you have already experience in sustainability, gardening or permaculture you will find your place there make your positive impact, learn and grow. ☺

Gracias para todos!!

Pura Vida!!

Vanessa Riepl, Austria

7 days Beach Cleanup at the Nicoya Peninsula.

4 weeks ago I came to Santa Teresa in Costa Rica to volunteer at Casa Pampa (NGO).  As one of the first activities I was part of a beach cleanup with different organizations around that area, like Npwaterkeepers and a school in Mal Pais. It took us around half an hour to collect 80 kilos of waste! This got me shocked. My first impression was that the beaches here were clean. Wrong! I started looking more closely and the amount of plastic at the beach got me really concerned, moreover how much microplastic can be found everywhere: just  sitting somewhere and being able to collect at least 10 pieces of plastic without moving. Throughout my work with Casa Pampa I got a strong feeling I should do more than attending some organized cleanups. 

Inspired by my workplace and the movement of 5minbeachcleanup I started taking 5 min of my day collecting whatever I found at the beach. Documenting what I discovered and weighting it everyday. During the first days I was not really surpised by the plastic found. In the middle of the week though the pollution at the beach got so bad I found myself in a crisis of thinking it will never be enough what I’m doing and if I’m really having an effect on anything? On Sunday it reached the peak. Having a wonderful day at a beach in the nature reserve at Cabo Blanco with friends, in the middle of tons of plastic. This day I didn’t collect anything, my spirit from the beginning was gone.

The next day I went to the local beach again and found a lot more waste than before. I met several people though collecting waste by themselves – together we are stronger! I couldn’t stop thinking about the garbage I’ve seen on Sunday though so Marina (another volunteer from Casa Pampa) and me went to collect garbage at one of the spots. After 5 min I already got 4 kilos of just plastic. We continued collecting as much as we could carry in the end. Finally it was 13 kilos, which eventually didn’t leave a feeling of relief because there was so much more left.

The results

5 minutes for 7 days: 13,75 kilos of plastic. 82 straws. 308 plugs 

(the amount of other waste was insignificant, so not to mention) 

In the end the results were not really shocking for me as I’ve seen what beaches can look like. To outline the massive problem we are facing I want to display some data. In the present the volume of one garbage truck is littered in the ocean EVERY MINUTE. Around 80% of this waste is coming from the mainland through touristic activities, transport of waste by rivers or nearby dump sites. During the challenge for the first time in my life I could really imagine what the great pacific garbage patch must look like. There are 5 around the world, of which the “island” in the pacific is the biggest. It is now 19 times bigger than Austria. 

In total around 150 million tons of plastic can be found in the sea. Extended by 12 million tons every year. To clarify, it is certainly not only to blame on countries directly located at the ocean. Europe alone is responsible for 180 garbage trucks a day full of garbage. The waste management in Costa Rica, in Latin America in general, has clearly a lot of catching up to do, at this point, however, there is no place for blaming specific regions or people – it is to blame on all of us! And the problem is way too big and created by everyone to leave it with the geographical affected countries. There is more microplastic in the seas now than stars in the galaxy. 

It is on us to choose now in what world we want to live and in what world we want our children to live…. 

I’m not changing the world with this challenge, yet it was eye opening for me. It’s gonna have an effect on my future behaviour as a consumer, well it already does.The problem is way too massive to tackle with beach cleanups that’s for sure, there is pretty much just one simple solution –  stop using plastic! As a consumer we have the choice everyday, we can contribute every single day to make this world a better place.

“Reject single use plastic. Refuse what you can’t reuse”

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.

It starts with deciding not to use a plastic bag when shopping, requesting the waiter or waitress not to bring you a straw, buying vegetables not wrapped in plastic and ends with political engagement, call to action, boycott special companies – there are no limits. We just have to start now!

Sources

• https://www.global2000.at/themen/muell

• https://www.global2000.at/plastik-im-meer

• https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/report/global-waste-management-outlook